Norfolk Over 60's win in Snodland

: Selwyn; 19 May 2019; Hits: 1805

Norfolk Over 60's win in Snodland

Norfolk Over 60’s have built up a big lead in the first leg of their annual Challenge Shield match against Kent Invicta at Snodland in Kent. The first three of the six scheduled sessions did not indicate the final outcome as there was little to choose between the sides in a competitive first half. The first session saw each side collect three wins with Di Quadling, Dave Quadling & Sheila Bragg winning 11-3, Joan Costello, Geoff Payne & Selwyn Goldsmith winning 10-5 and Gillian Amos, Pauline Wilson & Marjorie Hall winning 11-1 for Norfolk while Kent Invicta collected wins of 9-4, 8-7 & 9-6 on the other mats. Norfolk edged in front in the second session with three wins and a draw giving them a 13-11 points advantage. Their winning triples were Val Vardy, Sue Fox & Mike Boswell by 7-4, Lesley Turner, Billie Barker & Melvyn Barker by 7-6 & Colin Harris, Brian Turner & George Hume by 12-4 while Kerry Greenacre, Teresa Goldsmith & Russell Davidson drew 8-8. The third session was shared with Marjorie Hall’s triple winning 10-3, Sheila Bragg’s triple winning 7-4 and Mike Tate, Mike Smail & Tony Ottewell winning 12-5. The big breakthrough for Norfolk came after the lunch break in session four when they established a 28-20 points lead after winning on four mats, drawing on one and losing just one game. Melvyn Barker’s triple romped to a 14-1 win, Mike Boswell’s triple scored an impressive 13-4 win, Russell Davidson’s triple won 8-6 and George Hume’s triple won 7-4 while Jill Davidson, Mike Greenacre & Tony Oram drew 7-7. Norfolk Over 60’s moved further ahead in the penultimate session with Selwyn Goldsmith’s triple winning 13-5, Sheila Bragg’s triple winning 12-5, Marjorie Hall’s triple winning 9-2 and Tony Ottewell’s triple winning 8-5 to give the visitors a 36-24. The final session saw Norfolk complete a 46-26 away win on points as they won on five mats and lost on just one. Russell Davidson’s triple led the way with a 13-6 win to make it two wins and a draw on the day for his triple. Three other Norfolk triples earned their third wins of the day as George Hume’s triple won 9-4, Mike Boswell’s triple won 6-2 and Melvyn Barker’s triple won 7-4. Sheila Redwood, Glen Hume & Peter Fox added an 8-2 win to leave Norfolk in the driving seat to retain the Challenge Shield when the second leg is played at Hingham Sports & Social Club on Saturday 15^th June. The Challenge Shield was first played for in 2012 when it was won by Kent Invicta who then went on to retain the Shield in 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2016. Norfolk Over 60’s finally got their hands on the Shield in 2017 and successfully retained it in 2018 and are now favourites to complete a hat-trick of wins.